Monthly Archives: September 2014

The Holy Family Orphanage was opened in 1915 by the catholic church and was designed to accommodate 200 children. The reason for the large orphanage was Native American Children were removed from their families and tribe in an effort by the government and society to separate them from their culture. Sadly I don’t remember hearing about this in history class. I found the Indian_Child_Welfare_Act on wikipedia for more info.

It was furnished with classrooms, a dormitory, bathrooms on every floor and an annex that housed heating and plumbing facilities. There were laundry and kitchen facilities, a large dining hall and playrooms. the orphanage was open until the 1960s and some of the Cuban refuges children were some of it’s last to live there before being moved to foster homes. Northern Michigan University used it until the 1980s and it has been abandoned since then.

There are urban legends of abuse by the nuns, and a rumor of one girl who was out playing in the snow who caught pneumonia and died a few days later from her Illness. Supposedly the nuns had a funeral for her in the basement. they say on a quite night you can still hear the children playing.

For the record, I do not trespass, and I took this photo from a public sidewalk.

Lost In Michigan Calendars are back on sale this weekend and help me with expenses to do this website, I hope you will take a look at themHERE

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Once again, that magical time of year is here, yes I am talking about autumn in Michigan. From pics of Tahquamenon falls or the Lake of the Clouds surrounded by the glorious reds and yellows of autumn trees, to farm fields in Central Michigan or historic downtown areas, I have learned that you can get beautiful pics anywhere in Michigan. Here are some of my tips I have learned over the years.

an old barn in the sunshine near Vanderbilt

Take photos any time of day

I know you’re supposed to go out in the morning and evening in the “golden hour” but the leaves are at peak for only a short time, so don’t be afraid to take photos all day long, I found its best to have the sun behind you when you take photos, don’t shoot into the sun or the trees and barns will be in shadow.

Seven Bridges recreation area Kalkaska

Go out in all kinds of Weather

You know what they say”if you don’t like the weather in Michigan wait 15 minuites, it will change”. If its sunny and we have a nice sky then I will have a lot of sky in the photo such as farm fields or lakes. If it’s raining, then I find location in a forest or a park with a canopy of leaves to cover the gray sky. Rainy days are also a good day to get photos of waterfalls in Michigan.

Downtown Stockbridge

You don’t have to travel far.

I have finally learned to just go with the flow and take photos of fall colors whenever and wherever I see them. I don’t care if I am near my house or in downtown, or halfway across the state, I am going to take the photo that presents itself, To get the most time to photograph foliage, I start north and work my way to the south following the flow of the color as it canvases the state.

Don’t force a photo that isn’t there
maybe you have your favorite spot in Michigan, and you want a photo of it, but the color is not right, the sun is at the wrong angle and you take a photo and it just looks blah, then don’t spend a lot of time trying to make it happen go down the road and try somewhere else, and come back to your favorite spot later, remember the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, maybe a different time of day will work better or even a cloudy day.

Tunnel of Trees

Take a tripod, but you don’t have to use it

I always have my tripod with me but i don’t always have to use it, if its bright and sunny then click away, if its gray and dark out, then yes it’s best if you drag out that annoying thing out and use it. At least take it with you and you will have it if you need it. And remember sometimes you can set your camera on a stump or railing and that may work to stabilize you camera for a few shots so you don’t have to spend time setting up a tripod.

Keep your camera with you at all times.you should have a camera with you so when you do see a scene you like you can capture it, and it should not be that hard to have a camera with you, most cell phones have a pretty good camera in them and I have gotten some good shots with mine, you never know you might see something you like on the way to work in the morning, stop and get a pic.

Mount Hope Church

Take lots of Photos
you have a digital camera right? Take lots of photos, yeah some will be better than other but only show and share your best, and learn from the ones you don’t like, is the sun behind you, was it raining, or cloudy, I found by taking lots of pics that I like the ones I got on rainy days and how to take them.

You may have noticed from my list, you don’t need lots of fancy gear and know all your camera settings, you just need to go out and take lots of photos with whatever camera you have. Go out and just enjoy your time getting Lost In Michigan.

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The old train station on Potter Street in Saginaw is one of the largest Victorian era train stations in the United States. . Known to local residents as the Potter Street Station, the Flint and Pere Marquette Railway Saginaw Depot was constructed and opened in 1881, and was designed by the famous New York Architect Bradford Lee Gilbert. In 1964, the last passenger train departed the Potter Street Station. The rail line would continue to be used for freight until the station was closed in 1986.

There are several sources that claim the station to be haunted, bodies of soldiers who died in the war were shipped back to Saginaw by train to this depot. Richard Froeber was a casket maker in Saginaw and his shop was in the depot and he would build casket for the fallen soldiers. There have been reports of people seeing a ghostly figure of a woman in white roaming the station.

I haven’t posted in the past few days because I went on a whirlwind tour of the Upper Peninsula, and I can honestly say I got lost, well maybe not lost since I knew where I was but I did make a wrong turn, somewhere after Escanaba, 41 and 2 split and somehow I missed that and drove thru Stephenson and when I saw the sign for Green Bay then I new something was wrong. At that point I decided to let the GPS lady get me back to Iron Mountain, She took me down some back roads and I found the Statue of Liberty proudly standing in someone’s yard. Don’t ask me where because I had no Idea where I was at. From Iron Mountain, we (my wife went along too) went up to Calumet then back down to Marquette over to Munising and then to Newberry and finally back over the bridge to the L.P.

I put over 1300 miles on the car and took over 1100 photos in the past 4 days. I know I was early for the color, but I can’t get mother nature to work with my schedule, It looks like the fall colors will start to peak this weekend in some spots of the northern U.P. and then in two weeks for the rest of the U.P.

I am looking forward to sharing pics from this recent trip along with the other pics from around Michigan I have.

Visiting different cities while traveling around Michigan, I’ve noticed in several towns the most prominent house seems to be the one in need of saving. They were built by a wealthy Michigander, but then over time, some were converted into another purpose, such as a restaurant, hospital or apartments. Restoring them to their former glory and maintaining an old house is not as easy as owning a modern “maintenance free” home.

Here is a list, in no particular order, of some of my favorite houses I have seen, They are such beautiful historic houses and it would be sad to lose them.

Ammi Wright house in Alma

The Ammi Wright house in Alma, was used as a hospital and is in the process of being restored. CLICK HERE for more

Charles G. Learned House in Port Austin Michigan

The Charles G. Learnerd House in Port Austin, which was converted into the Garfield Inn, lat time I was there it was for sale. CLICK HERE for more

Heritage House in Chesaning

The Heritage (George Nason) house in Chesaning. Built by lumber baron George Nason and converted into a restaurant in 1980 the Heritage house has been vacant for years and was recently purchased. CLICK HERE for more

the James Scott Residence in Detroit

The James Scott Residence in Detroit, It was recently announced it will be converted into condominiums. CLICK HERE for more

The Hill House in Saginaw

The Hill House Built in 1886 for Clarence and Susie R. Hill. it is currently for sale to someone willing to renovate it. CLICK HERE for more

The Richard C Burtis house in Watrouseville

The Richard C. Burtis House in Watrouseville also known as the “Wedding Cake House” was recently purchased by a local family and they are in the process of restoring it. CLICK HERE for more

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The Portage Lake Lift Bridge (officially the Houghton–Hancock Bridge) connects the cities of Hancock and Houghton, in the US state of Michigan, across Portage Lake, a portion of the waterway which cuts across the Keweenaw Peninsula with a canal linking the final several miles to Lake Superior to the northwest. US Highway 41and M-26 are both routed across the bridge.

The bridge is the world’s heaviest and widest double-decked vertical-lift bridge.More than 35,000 tons of concrete and 7,000 tons of steel went into the bridge, which replaced the narrow 54-year old swing bridge, declared a menace to navigation on the busy Keweenaw Waterway.Its center span “lifts” to provide 100 feet (30 m) of clearance for ships.

The original 1959 design by Hazelet and Erdal of Chicago of the bridge’s liftspan had roadways constructed on both levels with rails imbedded in the road surface on the lower deck. This allowed the span to be partially raised to allow small and medium boat traffic to pass underneath without disrupting vehicular traffic. From this middle position, the span would then only need to be raised for large ships or lowered to allow trains to cross. With the end of rail service in 1982, the lowest position is no longer needed to allow trains to pass so the bridge is not lowered below the middle position during the summer boating season except for periods of maintenance or repair. In the winter after the lake freezes, the bridge is placed in the lowest position to allow the lower deck to be used by snowmobile traffic

Known more recently as Juddville, Judd’s Corners a few miles north of Owosso was first settled in 1853 when Connecticut native John Judd purchased 400 acres of land encompassing this area from the Hazelton brothers, who owned much of the township. A log school was erected in 1854, where Judd’s eldest daughter, Jane, taught. Over the next two decades a thriving community developed. In 1879, Judd’s Corners received a post office. By 1881 the village had a sawmill, blacksmith shop, general store, a creamery and two churches. Population, which peaked in the mid-1880s at about 175 people, began declining by the 1900s. The school that survives today, built in 1903, was originally faced with brick. The school and the Adventist and Methodist Episcopal churches are reminders of a once-thriving community.

I Enjoy doing this website but it takes up a lot of gas and other expenses. I don’t want to fill it full of advertising, and I am not funded by anyone or any organization. Your Support would really help me out to continue doing this website as an independent artist, so I hope you will check out my shirts that are on sale this weekend HERE,if you want one I probably won’t have shirts on sale for a while so I can get back to taking pics and researching and writing stories.

Sitting on 225 Parsons Street in Kalamazoon is the old guitar factory that looks like a church with the doorway in a sort of steeple. it’s like a temple to the gods of music. The smokestack still has the word “Gibson” laid in tile across the side of it. unfortunately Like many companies, Gibson made the decision to leave Michigan. After they left, some talented Luthiers formed the Heritage guitar company in 1985 and continue to this day building some of the worlds greatest guitars at the old factory in Kalamazoo